Are Wa Kemono Da!
HIGH The karakuri system adds a fresh, welcome twist to combat and exploration.
LOW I’m not in love with most of the crafted armor set designs.
WTF Japanese words scattered throughout the translation at random. Sou desu ne?
A few years ago, a nifty little hunting title known as Wild Hearts was released on most modern platforms, back before the Switch 2 was a thing. Released under the EA Originals banner, reportedly poor PC performance and quickly losing support meant that it never got the recognition I feel it deserved as a lovingly-crafted Monster Hunter-style adventure with a fresh tool-building twist intelligently grafted on to it.
Over the years I’ve made no secret of the fact that I thought Wild Hearts kicked ass. Now it’s back for another shot on Switch 2, dropping the EA umbrella and coming in hot with all previous DLC from the Karakuri Edition and post-release updates included as standard at launch.
Taking place in the gorgeously portrayed feudal Japan-themed Azuma across large hunting areas based on the four seasons, a critical imbalance in nature is causing gigantic monstrosities known as Kemono to venture outside of their usual territory and clash with the woefully-unprepared humans around the besieged hunter stronghold of Minato. It’s a story that delicately examines the subtle interpersonal relationship between man and nature, eventually coming to one inevitable conclusion — nature needs to get kicked right back into its hole, one squad of hunters at a time. Ooo-rah!
That said, while players will have to kill the vicious troublemakers endangering the lives of everyone in Minato, I knew I was going to love Wild Hearts almost immediately during one of the tutorial sequences where players are encouraged to stealthily sneak up behind a docile, passive animal and… pet the absolute hell out of it. Who’s a beautiful little abomination of nature? Is it you? Yes, it’s you! Awww, lookit your cute little face!
Rampaging monsters the size of a house trying to chew villagers in half don’t get off so lucky though, so it’s a good thing players have plenty of awesome weaponry to unlock and utilize against them whilst playing through the story. There’s a total of eight weapon types on offer, which are varied, effective and almost uniformly cool as hell.
For instance, the seemingly traditional Katana transforms into a ridiculously awesome bladed murderwhip threshing machine capable of whittling unfortunate kemono to bits at the touch of a button, and the Claw Blades allow hunters to hook into their target before dancing through the air, swooping in and out of range to avoid attacks while tearing into enemies with the same casual disregard for gravity usually seen in something like House of Flying Daggers. Even the Bow, rather than being a slow and precise single shot ranged option, is instead a relentless artillery machine capable of embedding dozens of arrows into hapless enemies before a charged shot detonates the lot at once.
Having been infused with a karakuri device at the start of the adventure, players are also able to use various resources to conjure up wonderful contraptions that make hunting more convenient and enjoyable. From permanent ziplines ferrying hunters up sheer cliff faces and across canyons, to gliders and launchpads helping them soar towards distant targets, various skills unlocked along the way make getting around each area a breeze.
Even better, there’s a wide range of camp amenities to help players mould the world of Azuma to their advantage. Tents can be placed to allow fast travel anywhere the player desires. Forges let players tinker with their equipment while away from headquarters. My own favorite camp was located on a lovely sandy beach where I had set up a kitchen to refine meals while passively harvesting fish from the sea nearby. It lends the world a sense of ownership not seen in many competing titles.
The karakuri aren’t just handy for getting around, though. Usually while fighting a boss for the first time, players will be struck by inspiration towards the latter stages of the battle, with an onscreen prompt flashing up to introduce a new tactic for overcoming deadly attacks or exploiting a weaknesses. The first time a giant boar performs its stampede attack only to be comically flipped fifty feet into the air by a hastily conjured bulwark is a gaming moment I’ll forever treasure.
There are a lot of these tactically-beneficial constructions to discover, from anti-air firework artillery blowing enemies out of the sky, to giant mallets smashing kemono sniping perches. They’re not necessary to succeed during hunts, but they certainly make things easier and are incredibly gratifying when used properly. By the end of the adventure some truly insane devices are at players’ disposal. Special mention goes to the Celestial Cannon, which is complete overkill in some circumstances but never fails to raise a grin.
As expected, the selection of beasts in Wild Hearts S gets more menacing as players progress. Initial encounters with giant rats and boars give way to gigantic lava-infused monkeys, glacial wolves and colossal tigers. There are a number of reskinned fights scattered across the four main lands of Azuma, but the variety seen in the enemy roster is still pretty decent.
Successful hunts naturally mean harvesting parts from these giant bosses in order to make new gear — and here’s where Wild Hearts S disappoints a little.
While the new equipment is undoubtedly useful, most of the armor sets look middling on a visual level. This led to me using the wooden ninja skin originally included in the Karakuri Edition from the start of the campaign all the way to the end. That one looks pretty awesome, unlike most of the craftable sets. Still, the stat boosts and bonus skills naturally make crafting worthwhile, conferring abilities like more effective healing, physical and elemental protections and various tweaks to stamina usage, evasion and special attacks.
Performance on the Switch 2 is generally decent. It’s not a locked 60fps, but it holds up better than I was expecting given the performance complaints leveled at the original on every platform. For what it’s worth, I thought it ran perfectly well on the Series X and this Switch 2 version didn’t have me balk at the comparison, so that’s a positive outcome for this port.
Wild Hearts S is a welcome and surprisingly capable port of what I always considered to be a truly fantastic and criminally underappreciated title when it launched a few years ago. EA may have dropped support for Wilds Hearts in a hurry, but I’d absolutely love if Omega Force continued to forge ahead with this IP independently. Azuma ain’t gonna save itself, after all, and it’s far too charming a world to leave to its own devices.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Disclosures: This game is developed by Omega Force and published by Koei Tecmo America. It is currently available on Switch 2, with a very similar original release on XBX/S/PS5 and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the Switch 2.
Approximately 30 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed, alongside three full playthrough and hundreds of hours on the Series X version. 6 hours of play were spent in multiplayer in this version, with two entire playthroughs spent alongside friends on the previous platform.
Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T and contains Users Interact, Use of Alcohol and Violence. The official description reads: This is an action-adventure game in which players assume the role of a character that hunts down demonic creatures. As players traverse a fantasy world, they can complete quests, interact with characters, and battle large fantastical creatures (e.g., giant rats, demonic boars, ice wolves) in melee-style combat. Players use swords, claw blades, hand cannons, and bows to kill enemy creatures in fast-paced combat. Battles are accompanied by impact sounds, slashing and particle effects, and cries of pain. The game contains references to alcohol in the dialogue (e.g., “I’ve got some sake with your name on it”; “It’s a strong spirit that brings inebriation with a single sip”; “Drunk again”), and a handful of scenes depict characters drinking sake.
Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are present. It should be noted that the accessibility settings found in Wild Hearts / S are extremely comprehensive, with a wide range of options to suit.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles can be altered and/ or resized. The only thing I’d say Deaf players might have an issue with is locating hidden Tsukumo by their unique clacking sound. However, a later upgrade to the hunting towers allow for their locations to be revealed on the map screen, so this is a temporary issue.
Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.
The chance discovery of a muddy, burnt out copy of '50 Shades of Grey' in a hunting pit gave him an appreciation for complex plots, characters and overarching narrative, and the unexpected gift of a Spectrum 48k allowed him to indulge in these newfound sensibilities with intelligent, highbrow games such as 'flee from the badly animated spinning turquoise dolphins' or 'avoid the deadly glowing bricks of doom'.
The fusion of both these interests finally culminated with Darren teaching himself how to write by basically guessing at what words might look like when jotted down on paper as opposed to being howled inarticulately at the skies.
Now others occasionally get to read his scribblings. Lucky them.
- Wild Hearts S Review - September 3, 2025
- Fretless: The Wrath Of Riffson Review - August 25, 2025
- Fatal Fury: City Of The Wolves Review - May 19, 2025